U.S. patent application number 12/704758 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-18 for smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to LIANG FEI INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to MING-TIEN CHANG.
Application Number | 20110197572 12/704758 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44368664 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110197572 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHANG; MING-TIEN |
August 18, 2011 |
SMART EXHAUST GAS FLOW CONTROL APPARATUS
Abstract
A smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus comprises at least a
control unit, a solenoid valve, a vacuum auxiliary storage tank, a
valve located on an auxiliary exhaust pipe, a sensor set and an
operation interface. The control unit receives control commands
from the operation interface to control opening and closing of the
valve to select an exhaust gas path according to requirements to
discharge exhaust gas, thus can avert traffic jam caused by too
slow of vehicle speed and can adjust exhaust gas flow amount
according to different road conditions.
Inventors: |
CHANG; MING-TIEN; (Fen-Yuan
Hsiang, TW) |
Assignee: |
LIANG FEI INDUSTRY CO.,
LTD.
Fen-Yuan Hsiang
TW
|
Family ID: |
44368664 |
Appl. No.: |
12/704758 |
Filed: |
February 12, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
60/324 ; 251/12;
701/2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F01N 3/2053 20130101;
F01N 2470/14 20130101; F16K 37/0041 20130101; F16K 31/1245
20130101; F16K 37/005 20130101; Y02A 50/2322 20180101; F01N 2240/36
20130101; F16K 1/221 20130101; F01N 1/166 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
60/324 ; 251/12;
701/2 |
International
Class: |
F01N 1/00 20060101
F01N001/00; F16K 31/12 20060101 F16K031/12; G06F 19/00 20060101
G06F019/00 |
Claims
1. A smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus comprising at least a
control unit, a solenoid valve, a vacuum auxiliary storage tank, a
valve, a sensor set and an operation interface, wherein: the
control unit receives detected values from the sensor set and
control signals from the operation interface to control operation
of the solenoid valve; the solenoid valve receives the control
signals from the control unit to change valve position for opening
or closing; the vacuum auxiliary storage tank is a closed tank and
forms a negative interior pressure, and is coupled with a first
connection tube and a second connection tube, the first connection
tube having another end connecting to an engine vacuum tube of a
vehicle, the second connection tube being connected to the solenoid
valve and having another end connecting to the valve; the valve is
located on an auxiliary exhaust pipe of an exhaust pipe set and
includes a valve holder connecting to an adapter box and a vacuum
valve, the valve holder having a throttle plate movable in a
throttle duct to control exhaust gas flow paths; the sensor set
includes at least one sensor; and the operation interface accepts
entry of control signals to the control unit to drive the solenoid
valve to change valve position for opening or closing of the
valve.
2. The smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the operation interface includes at least a manual control button
and an automatic control button.
3. The smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the operation interface is a remote controller and the control unit
contains a corresponding signal receiver.
4. The smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the sensor set includes a first sensor to detect rotation speed of
a cam shaft of a vehicle engine.
5. The smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the sensor set includes a second sensor to detect exhaust gas
amount of an exhaust pipe set.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a smart exhaust gas flow
control apparatus and particularly to an apparatus that contains
exhaust gas paths selectable according to requirements to avert
traffic jam caused by slower vehicle speed and adjustable exhaust
gas flow according to different road conditions.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Exhaust gas discharge conditions in vehicles affects engine
running efficiency. On the general diesel engine vehicle exhaust
gas discharge problem caused by carbon clogging in the catalyst
converter often results in dropping of engine efficiency and slow
down of vehicle speed. In urbane area such a problem causes serious
traffic jam. Moreover, regulations on noise, exhaust gas pollution
and speed of motor vehicles are different in urban areas and
suburbs. Driver's requirements for motor power and feeling also are
different. All this has some relations with exhaust gas flow of the
exhaust pipe. For instance, climbing a hill at country site
requires enhanced acceleration and power, hence must have more
exhaust gas flow to meet actual requirement. Diving in city area
demands lower noise and pollution, thus exhaust gas discharge is
restricted. The conventional exhaust pipe has a fixed amount of
exhaust gas discharge and cannot be dynamically adjusted to suit
driving requirements of different road conditions. Although
adjustable exhaust pipe has long been developed and introduced in
the industry, it still has a big drawback, i.e. the driver has to
stop the vehicle and get off the car to adjust the exhaust gas flow
of the exhaust pipe with a tool, and is inconvenient and
troublesome. To remedy this problem, Applicant has proposed a
technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,390. It includes a
controller to control open and close of a valve. It greatly
improves usability over the conventional manual approach. But it
still does not provide fully automatic control. There is room for
improvement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In view of the aforesaid problem, the present invention aims
to provide a smart exhaust gas flow control apparatus that provides
exhaust gas paths selectable according to requirements to avert
traffic jam caused by slower vehicle speed and adjustable exhaust
gas flow according to different road conditions.
[0006] To achieve the foregoing object the present invention
comprises at least a control unit, a solenoid valve, a vacuum
auxiliary storage tank, a valve located on an auxiliary exhaust
pipe, a sensor set and an operation interface. The control unit
receives control commands from the operation interface to control
open and close of the valve to discharge gas according a selected
exhaust gas path based on requirements.
[0007] The operation interface is located on a vehicle body (such
as steering wheel or dashboard), and includes at least a manual
control button and an automatic control button.
[0008] In one aspect, the operation interface is a remote
controller, and includes at least a manual control button and an
automatic control button.
[0009] The control unit performs automatic control based on at
least one detection value provided by the sensor set. The sensor
set contains a first sensor to detect the cam shaft RPM (rotation
per minute) of a vehicle engine.
[0010] The control unit, aside from performing automatic control
based on the detected value of the first sensor, also has a second
sensor to detect exhaust gas flow amount discharged by an exhaust
pipe set.
[0011] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and
advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the
following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a structural block diagram of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
auxiliary exhaust pipe in a closed condition.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
auxiliary exhaust pipe in an open condition.
[0015] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the valve of the
invention.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
valve in closed condition-1.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
valve in closed condition-2.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
valve in open condition-1.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the invention showing the
valve in open condition-2.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the
invention in operating condition-1.
[0021] FIG. 10 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the
invention in operating condition-2.
[0022] FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the
operation interface of the invention
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] Please refer to FIG. 1 for the structural block diagram of
the invention (also refer to FIG. 2 for an embodiment of the
invention). The present invention aims to provide a smart exhaust
gas flow control apparatus A which comprises at least a control
unit 1, a solenoid valve 2, a vacuum auxiliary storage tank 3, a
valve 4, a sensor set 5 and an operation interface 6.
[0024] The control unit 1 provides comparison, process and memory
functions, and receives detection values from the sensor set 5 and
control signals from the operation interface 6 to control operation
of the solenoid valve 2.
[0025] The solenoid valve 2 receives the control signals from the
control unit 1 to change valve position for opening or closing.
[0026] The vacuum auxiliary storage tank 3 is a closed tank and
forms a negative interior pressure, and is coupled with a first
connection tube 31 and a second connection tube 32. The first
connection tube 31 has another end connecting to an engine vacuum
tube 9 of a vehicle. The second connection tube 32 is connected to
the solenoid valve 2 and has another end connecting to the valve 4
(referring to FIG. 2).
[0027] The valve 4 is located on an auxiliary exhaust pipe 72 of an
exhaust pipe set 7, and includes a valve holder 43 connecting to an
adapter box 42 and a vacuum valve 41 (referring to FIG. 4). The
valve holder 43 has a throttle plate 434 movable in a throttle duct
433 to control exhaust gas flow paths.
[0028] The sensor set 5 includes at least one sensor.
[0029] The operation interface 6 aims to enter the control signals
to the control unit 1 to drive the solenoid valve 2 to switch valve
position to control open and close of the valve 4. It has at least
a manual control button 61 and an automatic control button 62.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 4, the valve holder 43 includes a left
holding plate 431, a left coupling duct 432, the throttle duct 433,
a right coupling duct 436 and a right holding plate 437 in this
order. The throttle plate 434 is held in the throttle duct 433 and
controlled by a control bar 435 to control whether exhaust gas to
pass through the throttle duct 433. The adapter box 42 of the valve
4 includes a base 421 and a casing 422 to form a chamber 420 inside
(referring to FIG. 5) to house a first fastening hole 426 of a
picking blade 425 coupled on an upper section of the control bar
435. The picking blade 425 has a second fastening hole 427 coupled
on a lower section of a second strut 424. The second strut 424 has
an upper section fastened to a first strut 423. The vacuum valve 41
is divided by a membrane 410 to form a front chamber 413 and a rear
chamber 414. The membrane 410 has one side connected to an action
bar 411 which runs through the front chamber 413 to connect to the
first strut 423. The rear chamber 414 houses a spring 416 inside
and has an aperture 417 connecting to the first connection tube 31.
The front chamber 413 further has a gas discharge orifice 415.
[0031] By means of the structure set forth above, in the event that
a greater amount of exhaust gas flow is needed on the exhaust pipe
set 7 or carbon clogging occurred to a main exhaust pipe 71, the
valve 4 on the auxiliary exhaust pipe 72 has to be opened to allow
the exhaust gas to pass through the auxiliary exhaust pipe 72
(referring to FIG. 3) corresponding to the adjusted exhaust gas
path. Operation can be controlled in three approaches:
[0032] 1. Push the manual control button 61 on the operation
interface 6 to send an open (ON) signal to the control unit 1. The
control unit 1 receives the signal, then drives the solenoid valve
2 to move a flow divider 21 to an open position. Meanwhile, air in
the vacuum auxiliary storage tank 3 is drawn out through the first
connection tube 31 and the rear chamber 414 of the vacuum valve 41
due to the negative pressure; the membrane 410 compresses the
spring 416 to move the action bar 411, first strut 423, second
strut 424 and picking blade 425 so that the control bar 435 rotates
to open the throttle plate 434 (ON) as shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8 to
allow the exhaust gas to be discharged through the auxiliary
exhaust pipe 72.
[0033] 2. By pushing the automatic control button 62 on the
operation interface 6 an open (ON) signal can be sent to the
control unit 1. The control unit 1, based on the detected value
(namely the RPM of the cam shaft 8) obtained by the first sensor 51
at that moment, sets that when the current and upcoming vehicle
speed has reached that RPM the control unit 1 automatically drives
the solenoid valve 2 to control the flow divider 21 to move the
valve at the open position. Other processes are same as those
discussed at item 1 above, including the vacuum auxiliary storage
tank 3 interacts with the vacuum valve 41 to open (ON) the throttle
plate 434.
[0034] 3. By pushing the automatic control button 62 on the
operation interface 6 another open (ON) signal can be sent to the
control unit 1. The control unit 1, based on the detected value
(i.e. the exhaust gas flow amount of the exhaust pipe set 7)
obtained by the second sensor 52 at that moment, sets that when the
current and upcoming exhaust gas flow amount has reached that
amount the control unit 1 automatically drives the solenoid valve 2
to control the flow divider 21 to move the valve at the open
position. Other processes are same as those discussed at item 1
above, including the vacuum auxiliary storage tank 3 interacts with
the vacuum valve 41 to open the throttle plate 434 (ON).
[0035] When the automatic control button 62 is pushed to open and
discharge the exhaust gas through the auxiliary exhaust pipe 72,
the control unit 1 automatically sets and remember the detected
value measured at that moment. The detected value serves as a
setting value. Thereafter, whenever the RPM or exhaust gas
discharge amount has reached that setting value the valve 4 will be
automatically opened (ON). If to change the vehicle speed or
exhaust gas amount is desired, push the automatic control button 62
again, the process of executing and memorizing a new set value is
performed.
[0036] When the manual control button 61 is pushed to close (OFF)
or the vehicle speed or exhaust gas flow amount does not reach the
set value, the control unit 1 drives the solenoid valve 2 to
control the flow divider 21 to move the valve at the closed (OFF)
position. As the membrane 410 and spring 416 in the vacuum valve 41
are no longer subject to the action of the negative vacuum
pressure, the spring 416 provides a return elastic force to drive
the membrane 410, action bar 411, first strut 423, second strut 424
and picking blade 425 to move the control bar 435 to rotate in the
reverse direction so that the throttle plate 434 is moved to a
closed (OFF) condition, and the path of the auxiliary exhaust pipe
72 also is closed (referring to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6); meanwhile the
air in the front chamber 413 of the vacuum valve 41 is discharged
through the gas discharge orifice 415.
[0037] Please refer to FIGS. 9 and 10 for an embodiment of the
invention adopted for use on a diesel vehicle. It includes an
exhaust pipe set 7' with a main exhaust pipe 71' and a catalyst
converter 73' located thereon to filter out impurities in the
exhaust gas and eliminate noise. It also has an auxiliary exhaust
pipe 72' with a valve 4 located thereon. FIG. 9 shows a general
exhaust gas discharge condition. In the event that exhaust gas
discharge difficulty takes place or in a road outside city area,
the auxiliary exhaust pipe 72 discussed in the previous embodiment
and shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 can be activated to discharge the
exhaust gas. The technical measure is same as the previous
embodiment, thus details are omitted here.
[0038] The operation interface 6 of the invention may also be
implemented in a wireless fashion (referring to FIG. 2). In such an
environment the operation interface 6 is a remote controller. The
control unit 1 contains a signal receiver 11 to receive the control
signals sent by the operation interface 6. Moreover, referring to
another embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the operation interface 6' may
also be connected to the control unit 1 through line connection.
The control signals sent by the operation interface 6' through the
manual control button 61' or automatic control button 62' can
control operation of the control unit 1. The operation interface 6'
is preferably located on the steering wheel or dashboard.
[0039] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been
set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the
disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments
thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *